A Successful Ph.D. Defense by Vianney Andrew Yiga

Vianney Andrew Yiga

The CEDAT community is proud to share our congratulations to Vianney Andrew Yiga following his successful Ph.D. defense that happened yesterday Monday 3rd October 2022 at the College of Engineering, Design, Art, and Technology (CEDAT).

His Thesis was titled; Thermal Stability of Fiber- Reinforced Polylactic Acid Composites for Flame retarded Applications.

Eng. Dr. Michael Lubwama and Eng. Dr. Peter W. Olupot

The candidate was supervised by Eng. Dr. Michael Lubwama and Eng. Dr. Peter W. Olupot both from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, at CEDAT.

Dr. John Wasswa, Department of Chemistry, College of Natural Sciences (CONAS), Makerere University was the opponent that interrogated the candidate to enable a clear understanding of the study.

The blended public defense session was moderated by Assoc. Prof. Dorothy Okello also the Dean School of Engineering and a member of the panel. Other panelists were Assoc. Prof Ahmad Zziwa, from the department of Biosystem Engineering, in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES), Dr. Catherine Wandera, the past dean of the Faculty of Engineering at Kyambogo University, Dr. Samuel M. Okodi from Luweero Industries Limited in Nakasongola, Dr. Betty Nabuuma from the Mechanical Engineering Department and Assoc. Prof. W. Musinguzi, Busitema University, Faculty of Engineering.  

The defense was conducted in phases that included a presentation by the candidate, followed by interrogation by the opponent, and thereafter it was opened to the public before the examiner’s meeting sat to make their final decision.

In her remarks, the Dean School of Engineering Assoc. Prof. Dorothy Okello extended her appreciation to the supervisors, the panelists, and the public for their invaluable time in taking part in what she termed an examination that would lead to the award of a Ph.D. degree.

Assoc. Prof. Dorothy Okello

She specifically pointed out the supervisors, Eng. Dr. Michael Lubwama and Eng. Dr. Peter W. Olupot for their unreserved contributions towards Ph.D. outputs in the School of Engineering which she said, was more than ever charged to churn out as many PhDs as possible.  She said this was a value chain system, meaning that the more Ph.Ds. supported, the more the Master’s students helped and in turn improve the teaching of undergraduate students.

The candidate, Dr. Vianney Andrew Yiga while giving his appreciation remarks to the panel and doctoral committee made special mention of Prof. John Baptist Kirabira who worked closely with his supervisors for a long time.   He extended his appreciation to the family especially his mother, for the invaluable support.

“I have given my all, I have pushed myself. This work is for the Department, the College, the University, and Uganda and we are building a nation, ‘he said in conclusion.

Dr. Vianney Andrew Yiga was applauded for the number of publications he made in peer-reviewed journals in the course of his study. As attached below, the student exhibited a high level of appreciation of the different aspects of the study.

PUBLICATIONS AND CONFERENCES FROM PHD WORK FOR VIANNEY ANDREW YIGA

PUBLICATION

Published

  1. , Sinja Pagel, Michael Lubwama, Johannes Benz, Peter Wilberforce Olupot & Christian Bonten. (2021) “Flame retardancy and thermal stability of agricultural residue fiber-reinforced polylactic acid: A review” Polymer Composites, 24, 15-44. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pc.2583
  2. , Michael Lubwama & Peter Wilberforce Olupot. (2021) “Characterization of rice husks as potential reinforcement for polymer composites” Materials Circular Economy, 3, 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42824-021-00031-5 .
  3. , Michael Lubwama, Sinja Pagel, Peter Wilberforce Olupot, Johannes Benz, & Christian Bonten. (2021) “Optimization of tensile strength of PLA/clay/rice husk composites using Box-Behnken design” Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery, 3, 1-27.https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-021-01971-3.
  4. Vianney Andrew Yiga, Michael Lubwama & Peter Wilberforce Olupot. (2021) “Application of Response Surface Methodology for optimizing tensile strength of rice husk fiber-reinforced polylactic acid composites” Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI) Proceedings, 3, 1-8.
  5. , Michael Lubwama & Peter Wilberforce Olupot. (2022) “Thermal stability of unmodified and alkali modified rice husks for flame retardant fiber-reinforced PLA composites” Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry, 1-27. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-022-11311-w.
  6. , Michael Lubwama & Peter Wilberforce Olupot. (2022) “Thermal and alkali modification of kaolin for potential utilization as filler material in fiber-reinforced polylactic acid composites” Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry, 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-022-11379-4.
  7. , Michael Lubwama & Peter Wilberforce Olupot. (2022) “Pyrolysis, kinetics and thermodynamic analyses of rice husks/clay fiber-reinforced polylactic acid composites using thermogravimetric analysis”. Manuscript accepted for publication in Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry.
  8. , Michael Lubwama,Denis Karemani, Denis Bbosa, Emmanuel B. O. Olotu, Peter Wilberforce Olupot & Faith Natukunda. (2022) “Response surface optimization of process variables for tensile strength of rice husks biochar fiber-reinforced polylactic acid composites”. Manuscript under review in Journal of Thermoplastic composite materials.
  9. , Michael Lubwama & Peter Wilberforce Olupot. (2022) “Thermal stability of clay modified rice husk fiber-reinforced polylactic acid composites”. Manuscript under review in Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery.
  10. , Michael Lubwama & Peter Wilberforce Olupot. (2022) “A review on mechanical properties of agricultural residue fiber-reinforced polylactic acid composites”. Manuscript under preparation for submission to Polymer Bulletin.

CONFERENCES

  1. Vianney Andrew Yiga, Michael Lubwama, Peter Wilberforce Olupot. “Investigation on char residues and mean reactivity of compression molded rice and coffee husks bio-char reinforced polypropylene”. 5th Thermal and Fluids Engineering Conference (TFEC). April 5th-8th (2020) Sheraton Hotel, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. https://www.astfe.org/tfec2020/
  2. Vianney Andrew Yiga, Michael Lubwama, Peter Wilberforce Olupot. “Characterization of rice husks as potential reinforcement for polylactic acid composites”. 5th International Conference on natural fibers (ICNF). May 17th-19th (2021) Funchal, Portugal. https://icnf2021.fibrenamics.com/
  3. Vianney Andrew Yiga, Michael Lubwama, Peter Wilberforce Olupot. “Application of Response Surface Methodology for optimizing tensile strength of rice husk fiber-reinforced polylactic acid composites”. 2ndInternational Online Conference on Polymer Science (IOCPS) – Polymers and Nanotechnology for Industry 4.0. November 1st-15th (2021) Online. https://iocps2021.sciforum.net/

Published by Harriet Musinguzi, Principal Communication Officer, CEDAT

Posted by Isemaghendera Alex, Web Administrator, CEDAT